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ORAL COMMUNICATOR Illiterate ORAL COMMUNICATOR Functionally Illiterate ORAL/PRINT COMMUNICATOR Semi- Literate PRINT COMMUNICATOR (Highly) Literate Stories from the past, from today Repetition Proverbs Traditional Sayings Songs Chanting Poetry Drama Life Experience Lists Tables Outlines Diagrams/Graphs Steps Teaching Points Abstract Concepts Nearly three of every four people in the world are oral communicators either by necessity or by choice. By choice they communicate this way

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ORAL COMMUNICATOR Illiterate ORAL COMMUNICATOR Functionally Illiterate ORAL/PRINT COMMUNICATOR Semi- Literate PRINT COMMUNICATOR (Highly) Literate Stories from the past, from today Repetition Proverbs Traditional Sayings Songs Chanting Poetry Drama Life Experience Lists Tables Outlines Diagrams/Graphs Steps Teaching Points Abstract Concepts Only one of every four people in the world is a print or literate communicator. They communicate this way

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Did you know that in the USA Over 50% of the adults are functionally illiterate? 58% of the US adult population never reads another book after high school age? One-third of high school graduates never read another book for the rest of their lives? 42% of college graduates never read another book? 80% of US families did not buy or read a book last year? 57% of new books are not read to completion. Most readers do not get past page 18 in a book they have purchased? Each day, people in the US spend four hours watching TV, three hours listening to the radio and 14 minutes reading magazines?

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If it is that way with the people of America and Europe, what is it like with the people in developing countries?!?!

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First, oral communicators can learn as well as literate people. Their ability to learn is just as good as a literate’s, and their memory is superior to the average literate person’s memory.

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The problem is not that of learning, but of the presentation format through which information comes to them. Information must come to oral communicators through stories, parables, poems, music / songs, and other similar formats. FORMAT IS THE KEY FOR THEM!

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Second, and conversely, most literates mistakenly believe that if they can outline the information or put it into a series of steps or principles, anyone, including oral communicators, can understand it and recall it.

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That is a misconception about learning and how different individuals process information! Most oral communicators do not understand outlines, steps, or principles, and they certainly cannot remember them.

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For that matter, neither can the literates! But they store information in notes and can ‘look it up’ to refresh their memories!

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Illiterates cannot ‘look up’ anything, and they have no personal means of refreshing their memories if they have forgotten something! A good proverb to remember is: When a bushman dies, a whole library is lost!